


Neighbors

by AngelaWrites



Category: IT (2017), IT - Stephen King
Genre: Aged-Up Losers Club (IT), Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Neighbors, Alternate Universe - No Pennywise (IT), And teasing, Fluff, M/M, Oblivious Eddie Kaspbrak, Richie is in love, Slow Burn, The window, gonna be pretty pg for a while, just ya typical fic lol, like junior/senior year i guess, lots of bickering
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-04-10
Updated: 2018-04-22
Packaged: 2019-04-21 01:36:00
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,161
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14274096
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AngelaWrites/pseuds/AngelaWrites
Summary: Basically, Eddie moves next to Richie... and Sonia hates Richie, so there's a bunch of sneaking around





	1. Chapter 1

Richie watched the new neighbors unpack through the blinds of the window. A small boy was the only one carrying boxes from the truck to the front door, and Richie found himself admiring the boy’s tiny shorts. Small red shorts with knee socks? Yes please. Richie was excited to watch the boy bend over and pick up boxes all day. However, his plan was foiled when his mother saw him staring out the window and came to see what it was.

"Oh! The new neighbors are moving in today! How exciting! Richard, go help them with their boxes."

"But–"

"I’m gonna go bake them some cookies."

Richie grumbled, pulled his shoes on and started tying them. Maybe interacting with the boy would be better than watching from afar. And maybe his ass looked better up close. Richie tied his shoes faster.

Eddie hadn’t gotten used to the smell yet. Every time he went inside the new house, he would get hit with the smell of a house that wasn’t his. Eddie couldn’t place the smell, but he just chalked it up as unfamiliar. He knew that eventually he wouldn’t mind it and it would start to smell like home.

He placed the box he was holding in his room and sighed, jogging down the stairs to get the next one. His mother sat in her reclining chair, which they had set up the second they arrived. She watched as Eddie carried boxes; watched him run back and forth through the hallway.

When he got back to their moving truck, he found a boy with giant glasses and an untied shoe waiting for him. Eddie was about to introduce himself to the boy, presumably his neighbor, but he beat him to it.

"Hey, the name’s Richie Tozier. I live right over there," Richie grinned as he snapped and finger gunned toward the house next to Eddie’s, "Saw you struggling with these heavy boxes. Thought you might need a man to help you out."

A man? Eddie looked the boy up and down and decided, though he had nothing against the boy’s appearance, he was barely a man. He was all lanky limbs and crazy hair. Eddie frowned and grabbed another box, "I’d be glad to accept help from a man if I saw one, but I’ve been doing fine on my own, thanks."

"You live on your own?" Richie pressed, picking up a box as well.

"Don’t touch my stuff – what was it? Ralphy? – And no, I live with my mother."

"It’s Richie," Richie reminded him as he kept carrying the box and following Eddie into the house, "Oh, sweet. Can I meet her? By the way, what’s your name?"

Eddie stopped in the doorway and Richie almost bumped into him, "Richie?"

"Yeah?"

"Go home."

"No way, I’m helping you."

As soon as they made it into the house, a voice called, "Eddie bear, what’s taking so long?"

Richie perked up. The boy’s name. Eddie. He was excited to introduce himself to this cute boy’s mom. Eddie spoke for him, however, yelling, "Our neighbor decided to say hi. This is Richie. He’s helping with the boxes," and then muttering under his breath, "unlike you."

Eddie rounded the corner to face his mom, Richie right behind him. Richie wondered how this adorable and lively boy could be the son of the woman who sat in front of him. He wondered how she managed to sink so far into the couch in the amount of time they’d been in the house.

"Pleasure to meet you, ma’am. I live right next door. Happy to help," he cast a look at Eddie, who started walking to the next room. Richie tried to be on his best manners, but Mrs. Eddie refused to acknowledge him. Richie was irritated, but trying his best to stay polite. He decided silence was the best option here (a rare solution for Richie) and decided to follow Eddie. At least Eddie would talk to him. Plus, he was cute.

"Hey Eds, where’d you like this?" Richie held up the box he was holding.

Eddie, now empty handed, grabbed the box from Richie, "That’s not my name."

Richie shrugged. He decided he liked this boy, even if he was difficult. Eddie was currently running up the stairs with the box. Richie chased after him, but Eddie already had dropped off the box and was coming back by the time Richie had reached the top of the stairs. He sighed, and rushed after him to get more boxes. Eddie was not slowing down for him, no sir.

They went back and forth a few times, with Richie right on Eddie’s heels. They were outside again when Richie began to ask more questions, "So where are you from?"

"Virginia."

"Oh, yeah? Did you like it?"

"No."

"Is that why you moved here?"

"No."

"Then why? Not enough babes there? Can’t imagine there’s a lot that are willing to lose their Virginia-ty."

"Actually I ran out of new girls to fuck. Had to relocate."

Richie was taken aback, blinking, "I’m sure they couldn’t resist you in those shorts."

Eddie turned red, his skin almost matching his shorts. Yeah, Richie really liked this boy.

Richie ran a hand through his hair, continuing, "Too bad I already fucked everyone here. You might need to move again. After I fuck your mom, of course."

"Alright. But only after I fuck your sister, assuming you haven’t already done that."

Richie’s mouth hung open. He didn’t expect Eddie to catch what Richie was throwing at him… and then throw it back. Even though they weren’t talking about nice things, it was such a good feeling. It felt like he was finally understood, like he found what he was searching for without the effort of searching. He was grinning now. Before he could respond, he spotted his mom walking over to them with the cookies she promised. She smiled as she approached them, "Working hard, I hope."

"Oh, yeah, we’ve gotten a lot done. Mom, this is Eddie."

Eddie smiled at her and shook her hand. It occurred to Richie that this was the first time he saw him smile. He liked it. A lot. When she mentioned the cookies she made for him and his mom, Eddie led her inside the house to introduce her to his mom. Richie followed them.

Eddie’s mom was a lot more polite to Margaret Tozier. She acknowledged her and spoke to her, which was an improvement in Richie’s eyes, but she didn’t get up from the couch. Richie found it incredibly rude. He couldn’t tell if his mom found it rude, too; she was hard to read sometimes. She continued to smile through the whole conversation.

"Sonia Kaspbrak," she called herself.

"Glad to have you in the neighborhood, Sonia. Margaret Tozier, but most call me Maggie. Pleased to meet you," Maggie held out her hand and Sonia reluctantly shook it. Maggie paused, obviously expecting some sort of response from the other woman. Sonia remained silent, though, so Maggie cleared her throat and continued, "I hope you guys had a smooth transition into our neighborhood. I brought you both some cookies. I know moving can be hard…" she paused again, waiting for a response, but didn’t get it, so she continued quickly, "I was thinking maybe Richie could show Eddie around today or tomorrow before school Monday."

Richie grinned and winked at Eddie, who gave a small smile in return with a roll of his eyes.

Sonia finally spared Richie a glance. She looked at him with calculating eyes, then shook her head, "No, I don’t think I want him around my son."

"Excuse me?" Maggie and Richie said at the same time.

Eddie sighed, his smile dropped from his face and he looked at the floor. He knew something like this would happen. His mom sure knew how to make enemies. He shouldn’t have brought Mrs. Tozier to her.

Richie almost couldn’t stay silent any longer. He disliked this woman, and he barely had any self control anyways when it came to speaking. He wanted to yell, 'I’m sorry, I just helped your son take like fifty boxes to and from the truck while you sat on your ass, watching God knows what in your cushiony fucking chair and air conditioning. I helped you move in, my mom brought you cookies, you ignored me when I tried to introduce myself, you’re rude to my mother, and now this? You judge me for my appearance? If you think that’s a good way to judge someone, you should look in the mirror sometimes. But at least your appearance matches your personality. You’re a horrible woman and I don’t think I want Eddie around you.'

Except he didn’t say that. He knew he should let his mother handle it. She was better at these things.

Sonia Kaspbrak stared Richie straight in the eyes as she stated calmly, "He’s a dirty boy. Not good enough for my Eddie,"

And just like that, Richie felt cold. Sad at first, then he got angry. He opened his mouth, ready to scream at her, but his mother put a hand on his shoulder.

He glanced at Eddie, whose eyes were downcast and his mouth tightly shut in a frown. Eddie looked up, with an apology in his eyes.

His mother spoke, "We’re not welcome here, Richie, let’s go."

Richie let himself be guided out of the house. Eddie was a couple feet behind them. When they were outside, Eddie said, "I’m sorry about her. She likes to keep to herself."

Richie turned to face him, still walking towards his own house. His mother was pulling his arm, grip tight with anger.

"See you in school, Eds," he said with a small salute.


	2. Chapter 2

Eddie collapsed onto his bed, finally done with bringing the boxes into the house. He closed his eyes, imagining the empty room with all his belongings on the shelves and his clothes in his drawers and the sheets on his bed. When he opened his eyes, he felt cold. His room was dark and empty, except for a few labeled boxes. He knew there was still so much work to be done in order to make this place a home.

He didn’t have the strength to do anything but lay on his bare bed. It was a busy day, but it wasn’t over yet. He still needed to make his bed and his mother’s bed at the very least before the day was over so they’d both be able to sleep that night.

He could faintly hear his mother’s television downstairs. Above his tiredness, he was upset at his mother. Just when Eddie thought things were going okay, she kicked their next door neighbors out of their house. Now, to be fair, Eddie didn’t prize himself on his social skills, but he knew that that was not a way to make friends. He shifted in his bed, frustrated. He wanted to start the day over. It sucked. The whole day sucked. Moving, unloading, unboxing, the emptiness, the darkness, the loneliness, his mom. Fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck.

Eddie sat up in his bed and put his head in his hands, remembering Richie. He wishes he could start over with Richie. Richie smiled at everything he said and had something to say about everything. He had no idea what his mom was talking about. Richie wasn’t a dirty boy. Well, he had scrapes on his arms and knees and didn’t tie his shoes right and his shirt was untucked and his hair was messy and he was practically blind, but he wasn’t dirty. He was refreshing.

Richie sat in his room alone. His mom didn’t have much to say about their new neighbors except for a warning to stay out of Sonia Kaspbrak’s way, which Richie took as "don’t anger her, please, I don’t want to deal with her". But Richie didn’t care if she hated him. Her son, however… Richie would love for him to love him. He didn’t want to stay away.

He looked out his window from his bed, eyes landing on a second story bedroom of his neighbors’ house. His eyes were drawn to it because he wasn’t used to the neighbors’ window without curtains. He remembered carrying boxes into that bedroom. That was Eddie’s room. Richie smiled and walked to his own window to get a better look.

His smile faded when he saw Eddie on the corner of his bed with his head low. He looked so sad, Richie wanted nothing more than to cheer him up. He noticed the unopened boxes and the empty walls.

Eddie’s head snapped up when he heard something tap his window. Richie was waving to him on the other side of the glass, giving a toothy grin. Confused, Eddie felt he had no choice but to open his window. Richie came tumbling in.

"How the fuck did you get there?" Eddie asked.

Richie shrugged, "Climbed."

"Why?"

"Saw you across from my room. Wanted to help you unpack."

"You saw me, huh? Spying on me with these binoculars?" Eddie flicked Richie’s coke bottle glasses.

Richie laughed, "You bet, baby. Gonna give me a show tonight?"

Eddie huffed, "Should’ve known you had ulterior motives."

"Yeah, yeah. Don’t worry, Eddie Spaghetti, I only have eyes for your mom."

Eddie rolled his eyes in the most exaggerated way he knew how and placed a box on the bed, "You gonna help or what?"

"That’s what I came here to do, but if you have something else in mind…"

Eddie scoffed and started putting his neatly folded clothes away. Richie started with a box labeled Eddie’s Desk Supplies. He started laughing, however, before he began piling the items on the empty desk.

Suddenly self-conscious, Eddie asked, "What’s funny?"

"Eddie’s Desk Supplies. E-D-S. Eds," Richie looked proud of his discovery, "I’m so observant."

"An acronym on a box doesn’t mean you can call me that!"

"It’s a conspiracy!"

"Oh my God, it’s not a conspiracy, Richard."

"Ooh, say my name again."

Eddie put on his serious face, hoping to draw the line, but it was hopeless, "How would you like it if I called you Riches? You wouldn’t. It’s weird."

"I’d love any way you said my name."

Eddie shook his head. Richie was making it extremely hard for Eddie to dislike him. Not that he wanted to. He just noticed it was impossible for him not to like him. Eddie looked back at him, smiled and said, "You’re such a Bitchie."

Eddie almost flinched at himself. God, that was so bad. So painfully bad. But Richie didn’t think so. Richie burst out laughing, "Oh my God. Ohhh my God. Can you be any cuter?"

Eddie’s face got hot, but after knowing Richie for three hours, he already knew that all of his innuendos were just his personality.

When Richie stopped laughing, he said, "Well, you’re about to be Dead-ie," as he approached Eddie playfully, with his hands out and held together in strangling position. When he got close to him, however, he reached up to pinch his cheeks, saying "Cute, cute cute!"

Richie almost apologized for such a horrible pun, but that would raise Eddie’s expectations and Richie didn’t want that. Richie liked low expectations. He didn’t want to be constantly letting people down.

Eddie was still blushing when they finally started unpacking again. Richie unearthed a picture frame of what looked like a paternal figure and a very small, very young Eddie. Richie, obviously, focused on the young Eddie in the photograph, in disbelief that anything that cute could possibly exist. He placed the photograph on the desk. He figured the other person was Eddie’s dad, and assumed he wasn’t in the picture anymore (no pun intended), so he didn’t want to ask about it.

After the photograph, Richie pulled out several stationary items. The only interesting thing other than the picture was a fuzzy pen with a puffball on the end of it. Naturally, he teased Eddie about it. Eddie wasn’t having it.

Richie’s idea of unpacking was a lot different than Eddie’s. Richie believed it was just taking things out of boxes, but Eddie believed it was putting things in their proper place. So, Richie finished unpacking before Eddie did, and Eddie still had to organize what Richie unpacked. In Richie’s defense, he didn’t know where any of it was supposed to go, so he couldn’t be blamed. Eddie wondered if Richie was even helping at all, but he dismissed the thought when he came to the conclusion that he enjoyed his company.

Before he started on another box, Richie glanced at Eddie, who was taking a small bag out of his own box.

"Oh, word. Is that a fanny pack?"

Eddie nodded slowly.

"Sick! What’s in it?" Richie’d bounced over to him now, reaching for it, but Eddie was shaking his head. He held it out of Richie’s grasp miraculously, using speed instead of height. He ducked under Richie and held it behind himself in an attempt to hide it.

"Aw, come on, Eds. I’m curious."

Eddie shook his head again, and Richie began walking towards him. Eddie took a step back, still with a ghost of a smile on his face. Then another step. Richie was getting closer, moving forward slowly with a huge grin on his face. Eddie took another step and… fell flat on his ass.

His foot had caught on the bedpost. He groaned and Richie rushed over to him. 

"Fuck, Eds, are you okay?"

"Can you stop calling me that? I’m fine, just scraped my hand. Probably bruised my ass."

"Let me see."

Eddie knew he was talking about his developing bruise, but he showed him his hand instead. Just the top couple layers of skin had rubbed off. Eddie shrugged, "It’s literally nothing."

Richie kneeled and pointed at the bedpost and cursed, "If you ever hurt Eddie again, I’m gonna fucking splinter you."

"Don’t fucking do that. That’s fucking weird."

A voice came booming from downstairs:

"Eddie! Are you hurt?" Mrs. Kaspbrak yelled from the TV room, "I heard a noise!"

"No, Mom, I’m fine!" he heard the stairs creak, "Fuck, she’s coming. Richie, you should go."

Eddie rushed over to open the window, but just as he got it up, the door opened.

"What–Eddie!" she cried, "What is he still doing in our house?"

He sighed heavily and turned to her, "He’s helping me unpack, Ma."

"He hurt you!" she grabbed Eddie’s hand.

Eddie shook his head, "No, I tripped on my own."

"I told you he was a dirty boy! He is not welcome in this house! Do you hear me, young man? Never come back."

Richie put his hands in his pockets, "I’m sorry, Mrs. K, I’ll leave."

Eddie spoke up, "Wait! I never thanked you for helping me."

Richie was already down the stairs, "That’s alright, Eds."

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks so much for reading!!!!!!
> 
> edsandrichee.tumblr.com


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